


The Road to New Heomar

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 01:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14945441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Pillars Prompts Weekly #43: Whodunit. More Adi, because why not? :D





	The Road to New Heomar

**Author's Note:**

> Pillars Prompts Weekly #43: Whodunit. More Adi, because why not? :D

 

Adela had always loved a good mystery. It was part of what drove her to study languages; each new one was a mystery all its own, and there was always a satisfying payoff.  Equally fun but perhaps more frustrating for those around her, she had a long-standing habit of hunting out birthday presents that had driven her parents to more and more convoluted hiding places.

This love of a good mystery, coupled with more general curiosity, was probably what drew her in to the ciphers’ work room as she left Hadret House, and then more specifically to the pieces of parchment affixed to the wall. Some seemed to be missing persons cases, others leads on a sect of some cult or other. But the one that really caught her eye was the mishmash of notes and leads regarding a caravan that had disappeared en route to New Heomar. Now that looked like a good mystery. Individual people disappeared all the time, for good or ill, and big cities always wound up with at least one cult hiding in the warren of its streets. But for an entire _caravan_ to vanish without a trace, _that_ was impressive, And she was more than a little curious.

she didn’t have a lot of time to scan the various scraps of parchment tacked to the wall before Hiravias tugged on her arm. “C’mon, Watcher, I don’t think they’re lookin’ for help with any of this.”

“Just satisfying my curiosity,” Adela laughed,” twirling her braid as she let him pull her toward the door.

>X<   >X<     >X<

But the hint of mystery about this caravan remained, teasing the back of her mind as she ran errands and solved little problems for people around the city. She got so lost in dwelling on it, Edér had to wave a bowl of stew under her nose for her to catch on it was dinner time. 

“I know you love a good mystery, Adi, but don’t take it too far,” he chuckled.

“Sorry,” Adela said, accepting the still-steaming bowl with a sheepish smile. She set aside her quill and the journal she’d been scrawling notes in. “Thank you.”

“Welcome,” Edér said with a wink. “You’re plannin’ to track it down, ain’t you?”

“...Maybe,” she conceded, pushing the stew around with her spoon to cool it faster. “I wouldn’t ask for coin or anything to do it, solving the mystery would be enough for me. But I know that’s not compensation enough for some, so I’m hesitant to drag you all with me looking for them.”

“Well, I reckon the idea of findin’ people who probably need rescuin’ would also be reason enough,” he pointed out. “Not everything’s gotta be done for a reward.”

“True.” Adela scooped up a bite of stew and blew  on it before eating. “I guess in the morning we’re going caravan hunting.” It would give her time to look over her notes.

Edér grinned. “Sounds good to me.”

>X<   >X<     >X<

Not everyone was as enthusiastic about this plan, but none objected, so after a bright and early breakfast, they left Defiance Bay along the same route the ill-fated caravan had followed. At least, same route as far as Adela could remember and had subsequently written down in her notes.

“You _do_ know how far it is from Defiance Bay to New Heomar, yes?” Aloth inquired diplomatically as they walked through early morning mists. “Not to disparage your intelligence, I just know how... focused you can get, one that leads to a significant chance of us finding ourselves rather more towards New Heomar than we expected.”

“Yes, I know how far it is to New Heomar,” Adela laughed. She’d figured he’d be the  one to say something. “Don’t worry, according to the Row’s notes, there’s a small village halfway between that the caravan never reached, either. So, in theory, unless we find evidence they went a different route, that’s as far as we’d have to look.”

He looked slightly reassured. “That;s still a lot of ground to cover, you realize.”

“I do. But it’s a good bit less than _all_ the way to New Heomar, and I have a good feeling about our odds.”

“That’s the spirit,” Kana said cheerfully, approaching from behind. He flashed them both a toothy grin. “I’d much prefer a happy ending to this mystery, for the sake of both the missing souls and the story it will make.”

“Much as it’s in my power, I’ll see what I can do,” Adela replied, amused. “In service of both ends.”

“Do we know how far from the city they made it before they disapeared?” Aloth asked. “Or anything else that might help narrow the search area further?”

Adela shook her head. “Out of sight from the gates, but beyond that it’s anyone’s guess.”

“Why a group this size wanna go to New Heomar anyway?” Hiravias interjected, flicking a bug from Adela’s braid as he caught up. “That’s what I can’t figure out. From what I hear, they aren’t exactly swimming in wealth and available land in that part of the Dyrwood.”

“Maybe only some are staying in New Heomar and the rest are bound elsewhere,” Adela said with a shrug. “We can ask them when we find them.”

The druid grinned and adjusted his eyepatch. “Ah, blind optimism. It’s almost inspiring, in a way.”

>X<   >X<     >X<

Adela needed that ‘blind optimism’, as she quickly found out why books--of both fictional and informative natures--glazed over the _‘searching for hours to find a lead’_ part of mysteries. If she’d possessed even a modicum less curiosity and tenacity she probably would have given up. After all, if the ciphers of Dunryd Row couldn’t find anything, what made her think she’d have better luck?

Finally, though, she caught sight of something off the road, so hidden in the underbrush a taller individual would likely have missed it. With a whoop of triumph, Adela shoved her grimoire into Aloth’s hands--simply because he was closest--and ducked into the close-knit tangle of weeds and flowers. She emerged a minute later, dirt and dead grass clinging to her braid with the same fervor her hand clenched around her find.

It didn’t look like much; a short curl of copper skewered through a scrap of parchment, the perfect colors for blending with the dying undergrowth. Adela smoothed out the wrinkled from the aprchment to read, half torn off, ‘... _better luck in New He..._ ’

“This was them!” she said excitedly, rocking up on the balls of her feet and rubbing her thumb over the hastily scrawled words.

“How can you tell?” Aloth asked, brushing some of the dirt from her hair as he offered back her grimoire. “Not to imply I disbelieve you, just curious as to your reasoning.”

“Aside from the incredibly faint but still useful traces of someone’s soul essence clinging to it?” Adela grinned, flipping her braid back over her shoulder before accepting the grimoire. “Call it an educated guess. I know there were a couple animancers traveling with them, animancers use copper more than your average Dyrwoodan. Also,” she handed him the scrap of parchment, “that handwriting matches one of the manifests Hadret House had as evidence.”

“A convincing case,” he agreed. “So what now? And why wouldn’t a cipher have picked up the essence and found this already?”

“It’s really faint,” Adela said. “I think the only reason I felt it is due to being a Watcher. Even a skilled cipher would have trouble, if they sense it at all. As far as what now, it seems we need to go in that direction.” She nodded toward the woods off the path.

“Perhaps we should stop for a rest first?” Aloth suggested. “We’ve been at this for hours, a chance to simply relax would be welcome.”

“I’ll second that,” Hiravias said, giving Aloth a friendly nudge with his elbow. “We need a chance to eat; I can hear Edér’s fucking stomach growl from five feet away.”

Adela glanced over her shoulder, toward where Edér stood with Kana and Pallegina, and he shrugged in sheepish confession. “Alright, short rest to get some food in our bellies” --her own growled at the realization of how long ago breakfast had been-- “then into the woods we go.”

“Tell me, Watcher, do you have any theories regarding what happened?” Pallegina asked as the six of them found places to sit. 

“I do, actually,” Adela nodded. She dug out a bag of dried fruit and tossed it to Kana for him and Edér to share. “I think they did it themselves.”

Edér frowned. “Why would they do a thing like that?”

“I haven’t the foggiest,” she admitted. “But think about it: this route isn’t exactly an easy one, but the biggest dangers are bandits, wild animals, and Glanfathans who object to people trespassing in their sacred places.” Hiravias grunted consensus with the last one as he scooped out a handful of dried apricots, and Adela smiled grimly before continuing. “From my experience, none of those threats are particularly... neat.”

Odema’s caravan flashed through her mind, and the smile turned to a grimace. 

“That’s puttin’ it nicely,” Edér snorted. “Nothin’ makes a mess like wolves.”

“My point exactly,” Adela said, gesturing broadly with her apple. “Someone decided they wanted to disappear and the road to New Heomar was the best place to do it; dangerous enough no one would question their loss, not so dangerous someone skilled would be in real trouble. And with how well their tracks are covered, this is someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“Which  begs the question of how they’ll react if we find them,” Kana pointed out. “If they’re _wanting_ to disappear, I can’t imagine they’ll take kindly to being found.”

“Good point,” Adela conceded. She took a bite of her apple while she muffled it over. “S’ppose we can figure that out if we find them. _If_ I’m right, we’ll have to see what they wanted to disappear _from_ and go from there.”

“Considering you think there’s animancers among them, I can’t imagine their reasoning is anything good,” Aloth muttered.

“Not all animancers are bad!” Adela protested almost reflexively. “Like I said, assuming I’m even _right_ , we’ll see what we’ll do when or _if_ we find them.”

They sat for a few more minutes, enjoying the cool breeze that sprung up, before stowing the food and following Adela into the adjacent woods.”

>X<   >X<     >X<

Whoever or whatever was responsible for the caravan’s disappearance, one thing was certain: they were very thorough. The trail got no easier to follow, even when they were well away from the road. Adela almost wished they had Sagani with them, but Hiravias was doing an impressive job tracking, so hopefully the end result would be the same.

Bent blades of grass, scuffed off tree bark, a tuft of horse hair snagged by a bramble, slowly but surely they tracked their quarry through the woods. Finally they reached a point where Hiravias held up a hand and gestured ahead, toward a section of trees where more light was coming through. They slowed their pace, moving as quietly as possible, and crept closer.

In the clearing beyond the trees rested three wagons, the horses unhitched but grazing nearby. The kith who comprised the caravan--mostly folk with a few elves mixed in--sat or stood in small groups spread out across the clearing. They looked relaxed for the most part, but a few along the fringes were clearly more wary.

 _Guards, then,_ Adela mused. They all seemed to be here of their own volition; no one was being treated as prisoners or unwilling tagalongs that she could see. But she didn’t get a chance to pat herself on the back at the further evidence she was correct.

The nearest of the wary ones, as elf who looked maybe half Aloth’s age(best she could tell, elves were hard for her to pin down), swiveled toward where they crouched. His eyes narrowed and he pulled a pistol free of his belt. “Who’s there?”

Adela looked at her friends, shrugged, and then stepped into view, ignoring Aloth and Pallegina’s hissed cautions. She heard footsteps behind her, but didn’t look to see who followed. Edér, probably. Maybe Kana.

“I don’t mean you any harm,” she said, holding her hands well away from sceptre and grimoire both as she looked up at the elf. “I’d heard in Defiance Bay there was a missing caravan, and wanted to help. I know mishaps with caravan can be nasty” -- _the singing wind of a bîaŵac, Odema’s hand pressed against his crimson-painted stomach_ \-- “and I wanted to make sure you were alright. That’s what happens when you cross curiosity and a bleeding heart.”

“Well, we’re fine,” the elf snapped. He lowered the pistol, still eyeing her suspiciously from under shaggy red hair. “So you can take your tall as blazes friends and fuck right off, aye?”

Adela looked back. Sure enough, Edér and Kana. “Sure, sure. I’ll tell Dunryd Row you’re safe and they can stop looking. I’m sure they won’t press for more details.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” A nearby human spun on one heel and hurried over, placing a restraining hand over the elf’s as he started to raise the pistol again. “Dunryd Row’s looking for us? Gav, maybe we should explain a little, ac?”

The elf sighed out a heavy breath through his nose but nodded. “Fine.” He tucked the pistol in his belt and cocked his head sharply as he looked at Adela. “This all of ya?”

Tempted as she was to say yes, this seemed a situation best helped by honesty. “No.” She gestured toward the trees, and Hiravias, Aloth, and Pallegina stepped out as well. “So, what’s your explanation for vanishing without a trace?”

The woman smirked and tugged at one of her tied-back curls. “Not _entirely_ without a trace, _aimica_ , or you would not have found us.”

“Point,” Adela nodded. “I’m Adela, by the way. Adela Tecali.”

“Hanna,” the woman replied in turn. She bobbled a hand casually toward the elf. “This is Gavryl. We” --this gesture encompassed the whole caravan-- “are just looking to be left alone.”

“Plenty of ways to do that without the disappearin’ act,” Edér chipped in.

Hanna hesitated, and Gavryl crossed his arms with a snort. “Not when you’ve been harassed, many times publicly, for months, _ac_? Rumors spread, and even seedy provincials are unwilling to have you.”

“Harassed....” Adela bit her lip. “Are you animancers, by any chance?”

“ _Ac_ , some are,” Hanna nodded. “The rest are friends and family tired of seeing loved one viewed with suspicion because they dabble in an... unknown science.” 

“That’s a diplomatic way to describe it.” She could almost _hear_ the eyeroll in Aloth’s voice.

“Aloth,” she muttered, before flashing Hanna an apologetic smile. “My friend isn’t fond of animancy, to put _that_ diplomatically.”

“And what about you?” Gavryl asked bluntly.

Adela shrugged. “I think it’s fascinating. Don’t practice myself, but like all fields of study or inquiry, I only take issue with it when it’s misused.” She shifted her weight and eyed the collection of kith scattered around the clearing. “So tell me, is the point of this disappearing act just to be left alone, or are you looking for somewhere your animancers can work without suspicion?”

“Both, really,” Hanna admitted, playing with the ends of her sash. “Most simply study the theory of it, but there are one or two among us who run small experiments occasionally. We were hoping to be written off as lost and find a small village somewhere to call our new home.”

“You don’t expect people to wonder where you came from?” Kana frowned. “Kith are a curious lot, I’ve found.”

“New settlers, looking for a home,” Hanna said with a shrug. “It’s not even entirely a lie, and there are enough new settlers in the Dyrwood, it shouldn’t raise too many follow up questions.”

“Well, then...” Adela ran one hand over her braid. It wasn’t a _foolproof_ plan, but neither was it an openly malicious one. “I won’t stop you. But you realize Dunryd Row is very good at what they do, so if they’re looking, someone else will find you eventually. For your own sake, make sure you have a very good case at the ready for when that happens.”

“I don’t suppose,” Hanna began slowly, “you’d consider teling them you found the wreckage of our caravan in a swamp or something?”

“Hanna!” Gavryl protested.

“If they think we’re dead, they’ll stop looking,” she shot back.

“And animancers wonder why they’re viewed with suspicion,” Aloth said under his breath.

“If I tell them that, they’ll want to know how I found it and how I know it’s you.” She shook her head. “I’m fine with leaving the mystery for them to solve on their own, like we did, but if you’re simply looking for a new home than I don’t feel comfortable lying for you.”

“I understand,” Hanna said with a nod. “We will be content with your silence, then, _aimica_.”

“That I’m happy to promise,” Adela agreed. She heard Aloth shift behind her even though he didn’t say anything, and mentally placed a bet they would be having another of their discussions when they made camp that night. “If it’s acceptable to your friend?”

Gavryl shrugged. “Guess we don’t really have a choice but to trust ya, ‘less we want to become the paranoid, murderous lunatics everyone thinks we are.”

“Gav,” Hanna sighed reprovingly.

“What, I’m sayin’ we trust ‘em,” he protested. He made a shooing motion with one hand. “An’ now that’s settled, off with ya.”

“Sure,” Adela shrugged. She gestured to her friends. “Come on. We have other things to do.”

They all followed without comment, either for or against her decision.

“So, no reward, then,” Hiravias said casually once they were almost back to the road. “Not from them in thanks for our silence, or from Dunryd for solving their mystery.”

Adela shrugged. “Just a good hunt and knowing we solved a mystery. That’s good enough for me, how ‘bout you?”

He grinned. “I suppose as a follower of the Seeker God, I have to say yes. Still, a more tangible reward wouldn’t go amiss.”

“I hear you,” she laughed. “But we don’t always get one. So the satisfaction of the hunt will have to do.”

That truly would be enough for her.


End file.
